The answer
Prayers at canonical hours are indeed present in Jewish tradition, based on the principle of sanctifying the hours of the day and night. Among the Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered in 1947 at Wadi Qumran, is the “Manual of Discipline,” which dates back to before the advent of the Lord Christ. Here it is recorded that prayer should be performed “at the beginning of the dominion of light, and at its end when it retires to its appointed place; at the beginning of the watches of darkness when He unlocks their storehouse and spreads them out, and also at their end when they retire before the night, when the heavenly lights shine out from the dwelling place of Holiness, and also when they retire to the place of Glory.”118
This tradition is an inherently scriptural concept. It is the Holy Bible that teaches the pattern of designating a day dedicated for worship, namely the Sabbath, to be the sacrament that sanctifies the whole week, as a minimum requirement for devotion. In the same way, the Jews designated hours that are sanctified to the Lord throughout the day that support the person spiritually through the remaining hours of the day.
David the Prophet is considered a living example of unceasing prayer; he says of himself that he is prayer when he says, “I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved” (Ps. 16:8). At the same time, he provides a living example of performing the prayers of the hours when he says, “Seven times a day I praise you” (Ps. 119:164). He also relates that he would pray in the evening, morning, and at noon (Ps. 55:17). He spoke of the morning prayer: “My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord” (Ps. 5:3); of the sunset prayer: “Let … the lifting up of my hands be as an evening sacrifice” (Ps. 141:2); of the night prayer: “I will not give sleep to my eyes … until I find a place for the Lord” (Ps. 132:4–5); and of the midnight prayer: “At midnight I will rise to give thanks to You” (Ps. 119:62).
Fr. Tadros Yacoub Malaty
Notes
118 Also known as the “Community Rule.” The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English (revised edition), trans., Geza Vermes (Penguin Books, 2004): pp. 111–112.